Sturup Race Track Malmö, Sweden: The time has come to put theory into practice: The 20 country winners of Opel’s Europe-wide ecoFLEX Experience competition are now set to prove which of them has the best environmentally friendly driving skills. The stakes are high: The grand prize is one of the first Opel/VauxhallAmpera extended-range electric vehicles, set to come to the market in 2011.

Under the motto “Green Drivers: Wanted!” the final 20 – each a representative of a European country – beat nearly 70,000 participants from around Europe with their skills and expert knowledge in eco-driving in the first two phases of the competition.

Follow us as of July 22, 2010  on the ecoFLEX Experience blog or on Opel’s Facebook Fanpage for live coverage of the event, interviews with our international contestants and insights from our  VIP coaches Manuel Reuter and bobsleigh champion André Lange.

Back in Hamburg, we've asked some of our Opel Meriva experts what they personally like best on the new Opel Meriva. They also gave us some interesting insights on target groups and the most asked journalist questions.

Thomas Stüber, Manager Human Vehicle Integration Opel Meriva

Kurt Beyer, Chief Designer Interior Opel Meriva

Erhard Voss, Director Gasoline Engines

Andreas Marx, Manager Product Marketing Opel Germany

Niels Loeb, Chief Designer Exterior Opel Meriva

Throughout the cabin of the Opel Meriva , storage space has increased considerably; the Meriva features in total up to 32 accessible locations for items which are most commonly carried. Among those, the revolutionary FlexRail console system consisting of exchangeable storage units that slide on aluminum rails located between the front seats also enhance the ergonomics of the new Meriva and provide a slide-able comfort armrest.

Thomas Stüber explains how it works...

An association of doctors and therapists specializing in back health, the highly respected German Aktion Gesunder Rücken association (AGR – Action for Healthy Back) has certified the Opel Meriva’s ergonomic system consisting of special back-friendly features, saying their design is gentle on the back – for drivers and passengers alike.

The three major features that are relevant in this context are the Meriva’s FlexSpace rear seating system, the revolutionary FlexDoors, and the ergonomic sports seats. The FlexFix bicycle carrier is an optional feature that is also particularly ergonomic because owners do not have to strain their backs to affix their bicycles onto the car.

In the workshop Thomas Stüber and the team demonstrate the benefits of these features by using the latest in digital motion capture technology.

A short demonstration in the workshop on how motion capture works...

...and here is what it looks like when you put it all together.

Thomas Stüber, Manager Human Vehicle Integration at Opel explains the different features that make the Opel Meriva suitable for different types of customers.

Either regular sized....

or even slightly bigger... ;o)

The new Opel Meriva features a lot of the benefits that customers loved in the old Meriva: High Seating position, compact size with lots of Space and the flexible rear seating system FlexSpace. This is why for the first heat of the program the journalists get to drive the current Meriva.

So we've lined up a number of Meriva's outside Hamburg Airport:

"Fashion" meets "Urban Versatility meets the "Flexibility Champion of Cars"!

See what happens when the urban athletes (traceurs) of Berlin's ParkourOne  discover the many  flexibility features of the new Opel Meriva. We teamed up with INTERSECTION Car & Design Magazine for this very special production in Berlin.

Check out the photo spread in Intersection magazine too...

Click here to download:

Opel_Meriva_Intersection.pdf (1.73 MB)

(download)

Click here to download:

Opel_Meriva_Intersection.pdf (1.73 MB)

...and yes he did jump through that car for real!

Starting with the Geneva Motorshow 2010 we will bring you live coverage and behind the scenes insights on this autoshow and future Opel and Vauxhall events.

Our intitial crew of bloggers are  Vijay  @V_I_J_A_Y (English), Dietmar @D_Thate (German), Keith @Keithchilds (English) and Stefanie @StefanieBabka (German)

We will kick things off with Stefanie and Dietmar on the road with the first European  production-prototype Opel Ampera.  The innovative range-extended electric car will go on  its very first long distance test drive from Rüsselsheim to Geneva.

Tune in this Sunday February 28th, 2010 to catch all of the action here on our behind the scenes blog or on Opel's Twitterchannel @OPELblog.

P.S. As these are our first steps with Posterous feel free to comment and give us your ideas on what you like, what you don’t and what you are interested in.